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Alexander Smukler
Alexander Smukler (born 1960) is the chairman of the board of Agroterminal LTD and the chairman of the board of Century 21: Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. He is a former managing partner of Ariel Investment Group, which develops commercial enterprises and civil engineering projects in Russia. Smukler is a former refusenik who advocated for the rights of Jews in the former Soviet Union. He left the Soviet Union in 1991 and moved to the United States, where he became a prominent member of the American Jewish community and continued his activism on behalf of Jews from the former Soviet Union. Smukler was elected president of National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry in 2008. Early life The Smukler family's ancestry can be traced back for many generations in Russia. The family history is the subject of a book called ''The Tsar’s Drummer: A Story of Courage and Resilience,'' published in 2019. Smukler's mother was a doctor who worked in a space-related research program. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Coalition Supporting Soviet Jewry
The National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ), formerly the National Council for Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), is an organization in the United States which advocates for the freedoms and rights of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States, and Eurasia. Emerging from the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, now with a paid staff, it played an important role in the Movement to Free Soviet Jewry, Soviet Jewry movement, including such landmark legislation as Jackson–Vanik amendment. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it is now an umbrella organization of about 50 national organizations and 300+ local federations, community councils and committees. History NCSEJ comes out of the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, which first met in October 1963. Among those present were Saul Bellow, Martin Luther King Jr., Herbert Lehman, Bishop James Pike, Walter Reuther, Norman Thomas, and Robert Penn Warren. This was followed in April 1964 by Student Struggle for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leon Uris
Leon Marcus Uris (August 3, 1924 – June 21, 2003) was an American author of historical fiction who wrote many bestselling books including '' Exodus'' (published in 1958) and ''Trinity'' (published in 1976). Life and career Uris was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Jewish American parents Wolf William and Anna (née Blumberg) Uris. His father, a Polish-born immigrant, was a paperhanger, then a storekeeper. His mother was first-generation Russian American. William spent a year in Palestine after World War I before entering the United States. He derived his last name from Yerushalmi, meaning "man of Jerusalem". (His brother Aron, Leon's uncle, took the name Yerushalmi.) "He was basically a failure", Uris later said of his father. "I think his personality was formed by the harsh realities of being a Jew in Czarist Russia. I think failure formed his character, made him bitter." At age six, Uris reportedly wrote an operetta inspired by the death of his dog. He attended ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refuseniks
Refusenik (russian: отказник, otkaznik, ; alternatively spelt refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern bloc. The term ''refusenik'' is derived from the "refusal" handed down to a prospective emigrant from the Soviet authorities. In addition to the Jews, broader categories included: *Other ethnicities, such as Volga Germans attempting to leave for Germany, Armenians wanting to join their diaspora, and Greeks forcibly removed by Stalin from Crimea and other southern lands to Siberia. *Members of persecuted religious groups, such as the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Baptists and other Protestant groups, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Russian Mennonites. A typical basis to deny emigration was the alleged association with Soviet state secrets. Some individuals were labelled as for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 40,921, reflecting an increase of 3,234 (+8.5%) from the 37,687 counted in the 2010 Census. As of 2010, it was the 60th-most-populous municipality in New Jersey. Montclair was first formed as a township on April 15, 1868, from portions of Bloomfield Township, so that a second railroad could be built to Montclair. After a referendum held on February 21, 1894, Montclair was reincorporated as a town, effective February 24, 1894.Snyder, John P''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968'' Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 129. Accessed July 6, 2012. It derives its name from the French ''mont clair'', meaning "clear mountain" or "bright mounta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conference Of Presidents Of Major American Jewish Organizations
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP; commonly Presidents' Conference) is an American non-profit organization that addresses issues of critical concern to the Jewish community, and the state of Israel in particular. It comprises 51 national Jewish organizations. It was founded to develop a consensus voice among Jewish organizations in dealings with the executive branch. On August 4, 2019, Jewish News Syndicate reported that William Daroff will replace Malcolm Hoenlein as the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. History The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations was founded in 1956 in response to requests from President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his administration. The American Jewish community of the period was experiencing a large growth in its similar policy groups (such as the American Jewish Committee and American Jewish Congress) and the increasing influence of the Jewish denomination ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish people and the State of Israel and combating antisemitism and other forms of bigotry. Although the organization's historic roots stem from a system of fraternal lodges and units in the late 19th century, as fraternal organizations declined throughout the United States, the organization evolved into a dual system of both lodges and units. The membership pattern became more common to other contemporary organizations of members affiliated by contribution in addition to formal dues paying members. B'nai B'rith has members, donors and supporters around the world. History B'nai B'rith was founded in Aaron Sinsheimer's café in New York City's Lower East Side on October 13, 1843, by 12 recent German Jewish immigrants led by Henry Jones. The new org ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exodus (Uris Novel)
''Exodus'' is a historical novel by American novelist Leon Uris about the founding of the State of Israel beginning with a compressed retelling of the voyages of the 1947 immigration ship ''Exodus'' and describing the histories of the various main characters and the ties of their personal lives to the birth of the new Jewish state. Published by Doubleday in 1958, it became an international publishing phenomenon, the biggest bestseller in the United States since ''Gone with the Wind'' (1936)''Exodus'' special edition Amazon books description and still at number one on eight months after its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 and additionally as head of state beginning in 1988, as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990 and the only President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically, Gorbachev initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s. Gorbachev was born in Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, Privolnoye, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, to a poor peasant family of Russian and Ukrainian heritage. Growing up under the rule of Joseph Stalin, in his youth he operated combine harvesters on a Collective farming, collective farm before join ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refusenik
Refusenik (russian: отказник, otkaznik, ; alternatively spelt refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern bloc. The term ''refusenik'' is derived from the "refusal" handed down to a prospective emigrant from the Soviet authorities. In addition to the Jews, broader categories included: *Other ethnicities, such as Volga Germans attempting to leave for Germany, Armenians wanting to join their diaspora, and Greeks forcibly removed by Stalin from Crimea and other southern lands to Siberia. *Members of persecuted religious groups, such as the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Baptists and other Protestant groups, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Russian Mennonites. A typical basis to deny emigration was the alleged association with Soviet state secrets. Some individuals were labelled as foreign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prisoner Of Zion
In Israel, a prisoner of Zion is a Jew who was imprisoned or deported for Zionism, Zionist activity in a country where such activity was prohibited. The phrase is taken from words of Rabbi Judah Halevi: "Oh Zion, will you not ask after the welfare of your prisoners." The former Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Yuli Edelstein, and the former Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky, Nathan Sharansky, were both prisoners of Zion in the Soviet Union. Historical background Most of the prisoners of Zion were imprisoned for their activities in the Communist bloc countries and in the former Soviet Union (and were also known for being refuseniks). In addition to the Soviet Union, Jews from other Communist countries, such as East Germany and Romania, engaged in similar struggles and were also imprisoned. The term "prisoners of Zion" was extended over the years, and was also used to describe Jewish prisoners in dictatorships ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with the exception of checks and balances from the courts and local governments). The Knesset passes all laws, elects the president and prime minister (although the latter is ceremonially appointed by the President), approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government, among other things. In addition, the Knesset elects the state comptroller. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the president and the state comptroller from office, dissolve the government in a constructive vote of no confidence, and to dissolve itself and call new elections. The prime minister may also dissolve the Knesset. However, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
